West Haven eyes moving kids' programs

WEST HAVEN -- City officials are in "early talking stages" about cutting costs by closing the former Stiles Alternative Learning Center, and moving before- and after-school programming from there to Molloy School.

Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro raised the issue for the first time publicly at a Board of Education meeting this week.

Commissioner of Public Works Beth Sabo approached Mayor John M. Picard last month about Stiles, which has been closed as a school since 2008, and asked if he would consider moving programs run by the West Haven Community House there to Molloy School and shutting Stiles.

Sabo said aging pipes and furnaces, and the need to keep the whole building heated and lighted even though the Community House uses just three classrooms, is costly.

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Molloy School, which will be used to store material from former Board of Education headquarters at the Blake Building until the board moves to City Hall next year, would allow for better consolidation, Sabo said.

Then the Stiles heat and utility costs could be reduced to maintenance levels, Sabo said.

"I think it makes sense in every way; it makes economic sense," Picard said Wednesday.

Cavallaro, Picard and Board of Education Chairman Howard Horvath have said Molloy will not be for sale.

Picard said Thursday he was putting together a request for proposals to sell Stiles, he said he would eventually aim to sell the Blake Building and Thompson School as well.

Molloy, which closed in June, would be a better site for the program because it has a playground, and also has restrooms and classrooms on the same floor, unlike Stiles, Sabo said.

Horvath said the Stiles closure was briefly discussed by his board Monday and that more talks are scheduled.

Molloy has been the subject of much discussion since it closed amid protests from a group of parent. It is still the subject of a pending U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights complaint. About 25 parents recently met with an attorney, those involved in the complaint said, and Cavallaro said the department has asked the district to provide some information.

The parents have alleged Molloy, which served mostly black and Latino students, was closed because of racial discrimination and retaliation; claims Cavallaro has called baseless.